


You Can Leave Me

by ToTheMax



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Hurt, Lots of Hurt, alternate universe where Minnie wasnt off the shits, no comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 14:58:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18263678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToTheMax/pseuds/ToTheMax
Summary: Minerva knows she's going to die. Her last effort is to get Tenn to safety, no matter the cost.





	You Can Leave Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hi this is an au where Minnie didnt go completely off the shits, this should go without saying but major spoilers for season 4 episode 4, as this is just a retelling of what I think should have happened at the bridge scene instead of the absolute trashfire that canon was. I hope u enjoy, sorry if the writing is bad but I'm coping leave me alone

_ “Nevermind the darkness… nevermind the storm.” _

A painful shock rippled through Tenn's spine, freezing all his movements, and as his gaze travelled to the three he was walking with, he knew he didn't imagine the voice. His heart simultaneously sank and leaped into his throat, pounding uncomfortably as he turned around, almost not wanting to believe it.  _ No,  _ he told himself,  _ Clem said she got bit! How can she be here? _

_ “Never mind the blood red moon… “ _

It was Minerva. Her head was tilted hard to the ground, a fire axe swung over her bloodied shoulder. Even from here, Tenn could see all the blood staining her clothes. He wondered how much of it was hers.

_ “The night will be over soon.” _

Even with her being so far away, he could hear her angelic voice ringing out clearly across the bridge. She looked up, and he didn't mind the large walker bite infecting her face; that was his sister.

“Minnie!” He softly breathed, and before he could register doing anything, he felt his feet dragging him forward, urging him towards her.  _ It really is her! After so long, she's finally back!  _ He felt a smile tug at his lips, but it quickly fell as she got closer.

Despite being so pale, so weathered, so  _ dead _ , a bright smile found it's way onto Minerva's face. “I did it,” she said, almost to herself in an airy giggle, “I found you! Oh, Tenn!”

Tenn's voice wouldn't cooperate as the grisly image of his sister shone in the moonlight streaming through the holes in the bridge's top. He now saw that it was definitely her own blood staining her clothes red, her body riddled with way too many injuries to count. All he knew was that a high red signal flared through his brain, telling him to run.

He didn't move as Minerva approached, stumbling with the axe over her shoulder threatening to fall off and clatter to the floor with her every shuffle forward. The bright blue in her eyes shone dangerously with what he was sure was tears spilling down her cheeks and walkers ambling closer to her and the bridge, lured by her singing.

“Minnie…” Tenn began again, stopping in front of the truck, hands pressed against one another as Minnie stopped. “What… what happened to you?”

“Too much has happened to me.” Minnie spoke quietly, but her echo carried the words into Tenn's ears. Her head went to the ground again, and the axe fell off her shoulder where she leaned against it sitting on the floor. “All of this. Leaving, becoming part of Delta… right now, it’s all too much for me, isn't it?” She looked up sadly, her smile still pulling at the edges of her mouth in the dark. “What about you, Tenn? Why did you have to get caught up in this? Why didn't you just st--” 

She coughed suddenly, bringing herself to her knees as dark crimson flew out of her mouth and onto her chest and the floor, adding nothing more than another stain to the multitude turning her clothes red little by little.

Tenn didn't think about his own safety, or the walkers slowly gaining on them in massive numbers, he immediately hopped over the truck and ran to Minnie's side, ignoring Clementine, AJ and Louis calling after him. They didn't matter right now. “Minnie,” he said, “hey, get up! We… we can go home now.” When she looked up, a melancholic grim attempt at a smile on her wounded face, he realized, “...you're dying.”

“Yeah…” she whispered, “yeah, I really am. It's… kind of my fault, really. It… It's my fault, Tenn, I'm so sorry.” Any attempt of a happy face was gone now, and all Tenn could see is… a walker. This was barely Minnie anymore; Minnie was slipping through the cracks and exposed wounds and pained words and leaving behind a husk of who his sister used to be. A monster with her mangled, half-eaten face.

Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe he could still save her, even if he couldn't save Sophie. He had to at least  _ try _ . So, he stood up and picked her up by her arm, letting her take time in getting to her feet. “We… we can still get you home. There's-- Ruby has bandages, she can help you.”

A laugh shook Minnie's body as Tenn held tightly onto her bite-infested arm. She gripped the axe tightly, using it to walk closer to the truck. Walkers were starting to gain on them now, as slow as that pace was. “You're still so… optimistic, aren't you?” As Tenn let go of her arm, she wrapped it around his shoulders in a tight hug that he immediately returned. “...My sweet little brother,” she whispered, and a tear fell from her cheek into his hair.

“Minnie,” Tenn choked out, hopping onto the truck. “Come on, I'm not leaving you!” He reached down and took her hand, pulling her arm, desperate. “Let's go, the walkers!”

“Tenn,” Minnie said barely above a whimper, “there's no hope for me. I won't last three seconds back home. If I even made it  _ that  _ long.” She met his teary eyes, and finally mustered the will to smile painfully. “You can leave me, it's okay.”

“Minnie!” Tenn exclaimed, his grip on her hand tightening as he tugged her forward again. “Don't say that! I'm not leaving you!” His fearful gaze turned to the horde of walkers that now caught up to them, limping forward with arms outstretched.  _ They're going to get Minnie!  _

“Yes, you are!” Minnie fell forward onto the truck with Tenn's pulling, and used her last burst of strength to heave herself onto the other side, immediately falling to the floor. “Tenn, just fucking go, okay? I'll… I'll be fine!” she wheezed, and another flurry of coughing brought up more blood on her chin. She managed herself up, leaned on the axe and the truck heavily, the bites on her legs throbbing with ever shuffle of her feet.

“Minnie,  _ please, _ ” Tenn begged, “don't just give up!”

“I don't have a choice, Tenn! I--”

“Tenn,” Clementine said, reaching forward and lightly taking his arm. “We need to go--”

“I'm not  _ fucking _ talking to you, Clementine!” Minnie screamed.

Clem stopped, slowly letting go of Tenn with her hands raised.  _ Why is she surrendering like that?  _ Minnie wondered, her anger chipping away to confusion before realizing... her gun was aiming right between her eyes.

“Tenn,” Louis lowly whispered, edging forward to him while also pushing Clem out of the line of fire. “Hey, we need to get a move on. Minnie… put the gun down. Please.”

Minnie stared at the gun in her hands, feet locked in place as the snarling of walkers drew closer and closer, becoming louder in numbers. Then, she lowered it slowly, pain starting to settle in from the bites that littered her body. She tried to fight it by biting the inside of her cheek-- the one that  _ didn't  _ have a chunk ripped out of it, and stopped down to pick up her axe. “...Sorry,” was all she whispered.

“Minnie can come with us,” Tenn offered, looking back at his sister before back up at Louis. “We can… we can help her somehow, there  _ has  _ to be a way!”

“Tenn, no.” Minnie looked back at the walkers, now pressed against the truck, reaching out desperately for any part of their next meal. “I… you guys need to get across. Tenn, you need to go home.”

“You do, too!” Tenn protested, grabbing for her hand again before she jerked it away. “Minnie!” he cried loudly, trying to get her to budge from her position.

Minnie felt a sob rising in her throat as she looked down at him, and her gun fell to the floor. “Tenn, hey…” She looked at the walkers, then knelt down to be at his eye level. “Tenn… please. Look at me.” She looked down at herself, at the agonizing walker infection that had seeped in and was starting to do its work. At all the blood that stained her clothes permanently red. How much of it was hers? How much of it was Walker blood? How much…  _ how much of it is Sophie's?  _

Tenn met her gaze when she looked up, and she saw him sniffling, trying to contain his tears. “I'm in no shape to be going with you. I'm bit. More than once. I want to go with you, I really fucking do.”

“You can--”

“ _ No,  _ I can't,” Minnie stressed, and stood up. “I don't wanna come back as a walker and kill you too.” In his silence, she looked at the gap in the bridge, limping forward to get a batter look. “It's not that bad a jump if you get a running start, you should be good.”

“That's what we were just saying,” Louis said, “We just need to be careful.”

Minnie pondered for a moment, looking back at Tenn, who now came to her side to get away from the snarling walkers right behind them. Then, her gaze turned to the axe in her hands. She knew what she had to do.

“Okay. Here.” She handed the axe over to Louis, then painfully bent down to grab her gun. “Use the sharp end of the axe to wedge into the dirt and pull yourself up when you jump. I'll keep the walkers off of you.” Her gaze roamed her friend, her brother, and the two somewhat enemies standing in front of her. “This is it for me. We all know it.”

“Minnie,” Louis spoke, mouth slightly open with shock and sadness. “I…”

Minnie sighed shakily, looking to the side of the truck; a walker realized it could crawl over the back. It snarled loudly and inched forward, and Minnie didn't hesitate in firing off a shot that echoed loudly through the bridge, surely alerting more walkers to their position. “We don't have time for a long goodbye!” she exclaimed, firing another shot into another close walker. By now there was a massive swarm; too much to run through and too much to just shoot.  _ Not that I have many bullets,  _ she thought with dismay, looking at only the five clips strapped to her belt.

“I'll go across first,” Louis said, but came forward to Minnie and wrapped her in a tight hug she couldn't muster to return. “I'm so sorry,” he said into her ear, “I'm sorry we couldn't save you sooner.”

Minnie bit back a choked noise and pressed her forehead into his shoulder. “There wasn't any of me to save to begin with,” she mumbled, and tore herself away from him before she collapsed into his warm hold, whipping around to shoot three more walkers trying to crawl through. “Take care of Tenn for me, alright?”

Louis nodded and shook his tears off before looking back at the gap. He shuffled with his footing again, then ran quick, leaping far. He didn't even need the axe to pull himself up.

Minnie looked behind and loosed her last remaining bullets into walker skulls before quickly reloading and looking back at the gap. 

“Here, Clem!” Louis cried, and he threw the axe, the blade spinning in the air. “Ah, shit--!” he said, upon seeing that it was going to get dangerous

“Clementine, get--” Minnie's warning was sharply cut off by a walker seizing her arm, and Clem's loud shriek as the axe sliced through her leg. Minnie exclaimed, the gun in her grabbed arm falling from her fingers and clattering to the ground. She seethed, looking away as the walker sunk its teeth into her wrist. “Ow, shit!” she screamed.

A bullet whizzed past her face, and the walker fell away from her. She jerked her bleeding arm away from the walker's dead grip, and turned to see Tenn with the gun in his shaky hands, eyes wide with terror.

“Clem!” AJ cried, “are you okay? Can you jump?”

Clementine looked down at her bleeding leg, clutching it tightly as she attempted to stand. “I don't know,” she admitted, and flailed her hand around to grab the axe. “I-I can try.”

Minnie's attention went to Tenn now, who put the gun in her hand. “Minnie,” he started, but words failed him afterwards. 

Minnie sadly looked down at him, her voice unable to work as well. They both knew this was goodbye, forever this time. Her grip tightened on the gun, and she knelt down to him.

“Tenn,” she said, choking up. “We don't have a lot of time.” She tore her gaze away from him just in time to see AJ make the jump, and Clementine to prepare herself. “We… I…”  _ I need to tell him before I go. He needs to know how she died.  _ “Tenn, I kill--”

“I'm sorry,” he interrupted, wiping his nose with his sleeve, sniffling and leaning his head into her bloody shoulder. “Marlon should have never let you get taken. This never should have happened!” his voice rose to a loud sob, almost drowned out by Clementine's cry as she went to make the jump. Both of them turned to look at Louis and AJ grabbing her arms and yanking her away from hungry walkers below.

“Tenn, you need to go.” Minnie turned and shot at some more walkers, but realized the attempt at keeping them at bay was fruitless; they had started crawling under the truck, going around, desperate for their next meal. “Now, you need to go now.”

“I don't wanna leave you!” Tenn sobbed, clutching hard onto her shirt. “Please, I don't wanna go! Not without you!”

“You don't have a choice,” Minnie replied, quickly shifting away from the biggest mass of walkers coming towards them. “Go! Jump!”

“B-But--”

_“Tennessee, I swear to fucking god!”_ Minnie screamed, “either you jump or I will throw you to the other side!” her voice broke halfway through, and she didn't stop her sobbing as a walker snatched her leg from behind. She didn't try to jerk her foot away as teeth tore away her flesh and a new searing pain coursed through her veins, causing her to fall down. “Fuck…!”

Tenn stepped back, turning behind d him to look at Clementine and Louis, desperately holding their hands out and crying at him to jump. His gaze turned back to Minnie, who was now being grabbed left and right by the horde of walkers.

“Go!” She screamed, her bright, nearly white eyes begging loudly. “Please, Tenn!”

Tenn shuffled back, his lips moving in a sentence Minnie didn't hear over the snarling that erupted in her ear as a walker bit into her neck. She saw him leap into Clem and Louis's arms before her head fell to the ground. Still, she did her best to sing. The pain was nothing now, but she wanted Tenn to hear the words one last time.

_ “Brush away your sorrows… brush away your tears.” _

Tenn held his hands over his mouth, the choked words reaching him perfectly over walkers growling. There was barely a melody, and the words were barely recognizable, but he knew. He almost mouthed the words with her.

_ “Sing away your heavy heart… the sun will be rising soon…” _

He felt Louis dragging him up, settling him to feet, heard his voice swimming in his ears, but he didn't register anything happening; all he saw was Minnie getting devoured like a deer carcass with a wake of starving vultures. He didn't look away until his tears completely blurred the image that was burned into his mind, and Louis had him by the shoulders turned away from the grisly scene.

He didn't realize Clementine and AJ hadn't followed them, he didn't know what Louis was saying next to him, all he knew is that his feet were treading over dirt and gravel and grass and  _ this has to be a dream this isn't real I'm going to wake up and Sophie and Minnie are going to be there, and they're going to be alive. Nothing happened, Marlon didn't trade them away and everything is going to be fine. This is just a bad dream, a nightmare. You have them a lot, this is nothing new.  _

Still, he couldn't shake the image of Minnie from his mind. Being so completely dead, and yet…

_ “The sun will be rising soon.” _


End file.
